Three weeks ago, I found out I was losing my job that I had. I was blown away and it was not what I was expecting, but that day I found another job. During the preparation for making the changes 2 weeks later, I started focusing on another job that I would absolutely love to do (but cannot reveal at this time), then the Monday that I was to start my new job in Dayton, it fell through! So again I was jobless. I began to wonder if this was a God thing, since I was totally focusing on this unamed job, and my heart truly has been desiring it more and more.
Then last week I found another job (not the one I want), but an excellent source of income in the meantime.
Last night i put my name out there for the "desired" job (and those of you who know please keep in on the low-low until I give a greenlight one way or another) and things just seemed so perfectly in place for it. I won't know anything for weeks, or maybe even months, but I do know this. If it is God's plan, it will happen when He is ready for it to happen. I believe after last night that it is most certainly the will of God, but maybe not in His timing yet (but that isn't up to me, it is up to Him).
Above all, I am really just coming to you my readers, my friends, and my family and asking for prayer in this, even though I cannot give many details right now, I would ask that you prayer over me, and what it is God has aligned in this path!
I do appreciate all of you who do read this (EVEN IF YOU AREN'T "FOLLOWERS" YET) and your prayers in this "search"
Love,
Scott
Friday, August 5, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Teaching the Youth Group!
I recently had the opportunity to teach the Youth Group for the first time ever! In fact just recently I had my first teaching experience ever! (Diana and I taught the Elevation 1st and 2nd graders)
However teaching the Youth was a whole different animal for me, but let's take a look back at a few things.
#1. A few years ago I would not have been able to sit in front of a group of more than 3-4 people and talk about anything.
#2. I am a firm believer that God prepares us for His calling in and through our jobs to be a light for His Kingdom!
#3. Had I not decided to try my hand at selling Life Insurance I would never have been able to speak in front of people.
#4. God will take you through many things in your life, but they always lead to a path of serving Him. The rest is up to you and to whether or not you want to follow His lead. I know that if I am going to learn a new dance, I want the Master of that dance to do the leading.
#5. God has the most unique reckless yet masterful way of revealing things to us in and through our lives!
Ok to sum up what I am saying. About 5 years ago I went to work for American Income Life. At this point in my life I had never, ever spoke in front of people. EVER! This was something that they did on a weekly basis. They picked random people to stand and deliver some encouraging words on sales, business, attitude, leadership, or just about anything that pertains to all of the above. Had I not been subject (forced) to do this, I probably would still be terrified of speaking in public, but as I stood in front of the Youth I began to feel more and more like I was doing what I was called to do. To speak to people of God, His desires for us, and everything that this involves.
God used this company filled with nonbelievers to mold me into being able to share His gospel with people who need to hear it. Though the hardest part of this process was not the fact of being afraid to stand in front of people and talk, but it was more about being afraid to stand and talk about God in front of people. Finally, after years and I mean YEARS of fighting His calling for my life I have finally started to embrace what He was ever so drawing me to. Teaching others about His love, and what He did for them on that hill.
If I could give the young men and women of our Youth Group one piece of advice from everything I have learned is, DO NOT FIGHT GOD, just FOLLOW HIS LEAD.
Back to the lesson though, as I was standing up there I just felt this incredible peace. I wasn't jittery or nervous. I wasn't worried or anxious. I just felt the peace of the Holy Spirit come over me, and allowed God to use me.
I hope that at least one of the kids learned something from the message, and I was glad that I got to teach this amazing group of kids. I am so proud to be a part of a Youth Group full of kids who are NOT ASHAMED of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. Thank You, all of you for that AWESOME OPPORTUNITY.
However teaching the Youth was a whole different animal for me, but let's take a look back at a few things.
#1. A few years ago I would not have been able to sit in front of a group of more than 3-4 people and talk about anything.
#2. I am a firm believer that God prepares us for His calling in and through our jobs to be a light for His Kingdom!
#3. Had I not decided to try my hand at selling Life Insurance I would never have been able to speak in front of people.
#4. God will take you through many things in your life, but they always lead to a path of serving Him. The rest is up to you and to whether or not you want to follow His lead. I know that if I am going to learn a new dance, I want the Master of that dance to do the leading.
#5. God has the most unique reckless yet masterful way of revealing things to us in and through our lives!
Ok to sum up what I am saying. About 5 years ago I went to work for American Income Life. At this point in my life I had never, ever spoke in front of people. EVER! This was something that they did on a weekly basis. They picked random people to stand and deliver some encouraging words on sales, business, attitude, leadership, or just about anything that pertains to all of the above. Had I not been subject (forced) to do this, I probably would still be terrified of speaking in public, but as I stood in front of the Youth I began to feel more and more like I was doing what I was called to do. To speak to people of God, His desires for us, and everything that this involves.
God used this company filled with nonbelievers to mold me into being able to share His gospel with people who need to hear it. Though the hardest part of this process was not the fact of being afraid to stand in front of people and talk, but it was more about being afraid to stand and talk about God in front of people. Finally, after years and I mean YEARS of fighting His calling for my life I have finally started to embrace what He was ever so drawing me to. Teaching others about His love, and what He did for them on that hill.
If I could give the young men and women of our Youth Group one piece of advice from everything I have learned is, DO NOT FIGHT GOD, just FOLLOW HIS LEAD.
Back to the lesson though, as I was standing up there I just felt this incredible peace. I wasn't jittery or nervous. I wasn't worried or anxious. I just felt the peace of the Holy Spirit come over me, and allowed God to use me.
I hope that at least one of the kids learned something from the message, and I was glad that I got to teach this amazing group of kids. I am so proud to be a part of a Youth Group full of kids who are NOT ASHAMED of who Jesus is and what He has done for them. Thank You, all of you for that AWESOME OPPORTUNITY.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
From NY to PA from Blan to Chi-town
The last few weeks have been PACKED full of events, travel, lack of sleep, whiny kids (not mine), and plenty of other FUN in general!
First we took a much needed break to the mountains of Northern PA (although we hoteled in Southern NY). We got to spend the day at a private lake with just the most breathtaking scenery and more importantly ZERO humidity (ok there was a littler, but nothing like it has been here since). In case you missed all of the Facebook posts, it kind of ended up being a tough trip. While we were out there we learned that Austin's grandmother (on his Mother's side) was on life support and most likely would not make it through the next day, which she didn't. So Austin spent the last two days grieving off and on, and on the way home was so stressed we ended up having to take him to the ER in Ashland, Ohio. By the way if you ever have to go to an ER in that area, DON'T GO TO THIS ONE! Not the friendliest bunch in the world, and they took FOREVER!! Needless to say we ended up staying out at a hotel an extra night since we were out so late at the ER! It turned out that Austin was just full of poop! Tell me something I didn't know already!!!! He was fine, just needed to have a bowel movement, and/or release some gas. Thank God, he didn't do it in the car.
After the trip to NY/PA, I was scheduled to begin a new job as a courier for a company in Dayton. That Wednesday I left and went to go train for the job, and drove back up on Thursday to fill out some more paperwork that they needed for me to start the job.
More on this later!
Later on Thursday I was meeting up with Pastor Craig, Phil Nelson, Chuck Tabor, and Joel King for a trip to Chicago for a conference on Sticky Churches/Sticky Teams. I had been looking forward to this since the day I heard about it, and quite honestly after all of the other events of the past week I was in desperate need of some "downtime".
One word of advice, if Pastor Craig ever asks you to play "Six Degrees of Separation with Kevin Bacon" for money, RUN! He is KING at that game! LOL. Thankfully we did not play him for money!
The fellowship on the way to Chicago was truly special, everyone was just poking fun at each other and in general just having fun getting to know one another better! The crazy thing about this trip is the restaurant experiences I kept having (and have had since, the guys jinxed me). We had went to Olive Garden (no silverware for Scott), and everywhere else we went (and I have gone since) I have gotten some sort of crazy thing happening to me at the restaurants. Finally though we arrived in Chicago very late. It was almost 11pm our time. So Chuck and I went for a quick swim, and Joel passed out in one of the pool chairs. Craig and Phil were kind of wiped out and just stayed in their rooms.
The next day (Friday, for those of you keeping track) was the day of the conference. We got up early went to Panera, and had some breakfast. Then off to the conference just a couple of miles away.
Larry was an amazing speaker. He never once in the 5-6 hours he was speaking lost my attention which is very difficult to do and especially for that length of time.
What I got out of this conference the most was this: Do not count the #'s of people in the seats on Sunday's, but count the faces! Man that has stuck with me in a BIG way. He talked about how churches count their offerings to the exact penny, but yet we don't put that much time and effort into the people! I got to thinking about that a little more in depth, and came up with: If we count the tithes/offerings to the penny, do we not know exactly where every penny is being spent from the church? I mean, do we keep as much of a "budget" on what we sow spiritually? I know I want to. I want to know that when I am discipling someone, that I see the fruits of my work! I want to see the Kingdom of God grow, and more importantly how it is that I personally am impacting the Body of Christ.
Oh wait, I'm not done yet! There was the ride home! The ride home was a long, mostly because we hit 5 o'clock traffic in Chicago on the way out! It was a mess. It was a long drive just getting out of Chicago. Although, on the way home Craig was pretty tired so we decided to play a game they called Hot Seat, basically this is pretty much like truth or dare without the dare. It's a good thing we were not doing that part, because from the sound of Hot Seat it would of been a toss up between Joel and I as to who would win the dares..... LOL
Hot Seat, basically was an awesome way to get to know the guys. We asked some just general questions about each other, and then there were some very personal questions about each other too. It was a great time.
Well after that Craig was still tired and we hadn't even reached Indianapolis at this point, and noone wanted to play the "Kevin Bacon" game with him any longer at this point, so we played an encouragement game. Basically just going around through the 5 of us and saying things that the other person did to encourage us. THIS ABSOLUTELY FAR AND AWAY WAS THE BEST CONVERSATION OF THE TRIP. I was not only blessed by the things that people said about me, but also the things people said about each other, and how everyone was in 100% agreement with each other about what was being said to someone else! I LOVED THIS! We all too often do not receive the encouragement we need in our lives, and this just lifted me up in such a way. The two that stood out to me the most that were directed to me were #1 Joel said that he loved seeing the bond that Austin and I have and that he hoped to have that kind of bind with his kids when they got to that age..... What a tremendous compliment, that blew me away. #2 Phil said that it was a blessing for him to see the impact my friendship has made on his brother Steve, and that he appreciated it. Wow, talk about warm fuzzies lol. All in all, I was just so amazed at how much of the love of God flowed in that little Ford Escape. Incredible.
First we took a much needed break to the mountains of Northern PA (although we hoteled in Southern NY). We got to spend the day at a private lake with just the most breathtaking scenery and more importantly ZERO humidity (ok there was a littler, but nothing like it has been here since). In case you missed all of the Facebook posts, it kind of ended up being a tough trip. While we were out there we learned that Austin's grandmother (on his Mother's side) was on life support and most likely would not make it through the next day, which she didn't. So Austin spent the last two days grieving off and on, and on the way home was so stressed we ended up having to take him to the ER in Ashland, Ohio. By the way if you ever have to go to an ER in that area, DON'T GO TO THIS ONE! Not the friendliest bunch in the world, and they took FOREVER!! Needless to say we ended up staying out at a hotel an extra night since we were out so late at the ER! It turned out that Austin was just full of poop! Tell me something I didn't know already!!!! He was fine, just needed to have a bowel movement, and/or release some gas. Thank God, he didn't do it in the car.
After the trip to NY/PA, I was scheduled to begin a new job as a courier for a company in Dayton. That Wednesday I left and went to go train for the job, and drove back up on Thursday to fill out some more paperwork that they needed for me to start the job.
Later on Thursday I was meeting up with Pastor Craig, Phil Nelson, Chuck Tabor, and Joel King for a trip to Chicago for a conference on Sticky Churches/Sticky Teams. I had been looking forward to this since the day I heard about it, and quite honestly after all of the other events of the past week I was in desperate need of some "downtime".
One word of advice, if Pastor Craig ever asks you to play "Six Degrees of Separation with Kevin Bacon" for money, RUN! He is KING at that game! LOL. Thankfully we did not play him for money!
The fellowship on the way to Chicago was truly special, everyone was just poking fun at each other and in general just having fun getting to know one another better! The crazy thing about this trip is the restaurant experiences I kept having (and have had since, the guys jinxed me). We had went to Olive Garden (no silverware for Scott), and everywhere else we went (and I have gone since) I have gotten some sort of crazy thing happening to me at the restaurants. Finally though we arrived in Chicago very late. It was almost 11pm our time. So Chuck and I went for a quick swim, and Joel passed out in one of the pool chairs. Craig and Phil were kind of wiped out and just stayed in their rooms.
The next day (Friday, for those of you keeping track) was the day of the conference. We got up early went to Panera, and had some breakfast. Then off to the conference just a couple of miles away.
Larry was an amazing speaker. He never once in the 5-6 hours he was speaking lost my attention which is very difficult to do and especially for that length of time.
What I got out of this conference the most was this: Do not count the #'s of people in the seats on Sunday's, but count the faces! Man that has stuck with me in a BIG way. He talked about how churches count their offerings to the exact penny, but yet we don't put that much time and effort into the people! I got to thinking about that a little more in depth, and came up with: If we count the tithes/offerings to the penny, do we not know exactly where every penny is being spent from the church? I mean, do we keep as much of a "budget" on what we sow spiritually? I know I want to. I want to know that when I am discipling someone, that I see the fruits of my work! I want to see the Kingdom of God grow, and more importantly how it is that I personally am impacting the Body of Christ.
Oh wait, I'm not done yet! There was the ride home! The ride home was a long, mostly because we hit 5 o'clock traffic in Chicago on the way out! It was a mess. It was a long drive just getting out of Chicago. Although, on the way home Craig was pretty tired so we decided to play a game they called Hot Seat, basically this is pretty much like truth or dare without the dare. It's a good thing we were not doing that part, because from the sound of Hot Seat it would of been a toss up between Joel and I as to who would win the dares..... LOL
Hot Seat, basically was an awesome way to get to know the guys. We asked some just general questions about each other, and then there were some very personal questions about each other too. It was a great time.
Well after that Craig was still tired and we hadn't even reached Indianapolis at this point, and noone wanted to play the "Kevin Bacon" game with him any longer at this point, so we played an encouragement game. Basically just going around through the 5 of us and saying things that the other person did to encourage us. THIS ABSOLUTELY FAR AND AWAY WAS THE BEST CONVERSATION OF THE TRIP. I was not only blessed by the things that people said about me, but also the things people said about each other, and how everyone was in 100% agreement with each other about what was being said to someone else! I LOVED THIS! We all too often do not receive the encouragement we need in our lives, and this just lifted me up in such a way. The two that stood out to me the most that were directed to me were #1 Joel said that he loved seeing the bond that Austin and I have and that he hoped to have that kind of bind with his kids when they got to that age..... What a tremendous compliment, that blew me away. #2 Phil said that it was a blessing for him to see the impact my friendship has made on his brother Steve, and that he appreciated it. Wow, talk about warm fuzzies lol. All in all, I was just so amazed at how much of the love of God flowed in that little Ford Escape. Incredible.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The last two weeks!
The last two weeks have been marred by business! We went to the NY/PA area for a family reunion, then home to go train for a day at a job I ended up not gettin, and then off to Chicago for a quick trip turn around with Craig, Phil, Chuck and Joel!
What an impressive last couple of weeks though! God has taught me so much and on top of that Brent asked me to teach the Youth Group this Thursday and I will be doing that as well!
So to say the least busy, busy ,busy!
Just trying to keep you up to date with why I have not been blogging! Don't forget that if you are an avid reader of my blog please make sure you click on the follow button up at the top of the page to help me build a strong following so when I get my book finished, I can get it published!
I have plenty of good things to write about and will be back to doing it after I get my lesson for Thursday finished and another short project that I am working on done, so expect 2-3 new blogs later in the week if not more!
Thanks, and have a blessed week!
What an impressive last couple of weeks though! God has taught me so much and on top of that Brent asked me to teach the Youth Group this Thursday and I will be doing that as well!
So to say the least busy, busy ,busy!
Just trying to keep you up to date with why I have not been blogging! Don't forget that if you are an avid reader of my blog please make sure you click on the follow button up at the top of the page to help me build a strong following so when I get my book finished, I can get it published!
I have plenty of good things to write about and will be back to doing it after I get my lesson for Thursday finished and another short project that I am working on done, so expect 2-3 new blogs later in the week if not more!
Thanks, and have a blessed week!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
People who sin cannot get into heaven???
Ok, so I was out getting some tires in Wilmington the other day and came across some tracts from some publisher. This one caught my eye! It said "3 things God cannot do!" First of all there is NOTHING that God CANNOT do if HE wants to do it!
I open the tract and look inside and see the 3 things.
The first is "God cannot lie", while I am sure He can lie if He wanted to since He is God, but I think this would have been better approached by saying that God does not falter from His promises or something similar to that. I mean I get the idea behind these tracts but to me this whole scare tactic of this particular one is not going to get the attention of someone who has fear in them already! How many times does the Bible say do not fear? 365 times! Is that a coincidence to how many days of the year there are? I think not!
Numbers 23:19
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
#2 God cannot change! I agree that God does not change and He is the same God today that He has been since the beginning of time!
Psalm 55:19
God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.
Alright now here is the one that got me in a little bit of an uproar while reading it!
#3. God CANNOT allow sinner into heaven.
Can I stop for a minute and say that God and Jesus must be awful lonely up in heaven! They would be all alone! My Bible doesn't say that if you HAVE sinned you CANNOT get into heaven! It does however say this:
Romans 3:22-24
New International Version (NIV)
22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Being redeemed sounds 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times better than being condemned! My God is THE redeeming God, My God is THE God of Salvation, My God is THE God of Love, My God is THE King of Kings, The Great Deliverer, The Alpha and Omega, Yahweh, The Way The Truth & The Life, Advocate, Prince of Peace..... I could go on and on!
I open the tract and look inside and see the 3 things.
The first is "God cannot lie", while I am sure He can lie if He wanted to since He is God, but I think this would have been better approached by saying that God does not falter from His promises or something similar to that. I mean I get the idea behind these tracts but to me this whole scare tactic of this particular one is not going to get the attention of someone who has fear in them already! How many times does the Bible say do not fear? 365 times! Is that a coincidence to how many days of the year there are? I think not!
Numbers 23:19
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
#2 God cannot change! I agree that God does not change and He is the same God today that He has been since the beginning of time!
Psalm 55:19
God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.
Alright now here is the one that got me in a little bit of an uproar while reading it!
#3. God CANNOT allow sinner into heaven.
Can I stop for a minute and say that God and Jesus must be awful lonely up in heaven! They would be all alone! My Bible doesn't say that if you HAVE sinned you CANNOT get into heaven! It does however say this:
Romans 3:22-24
New International Version (NIV)
22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Being redeemed sounds 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times better than being condemned! My God is THE redeeming God, My God is THE God of Salvation, My God is THE God of Love, My God is THE King of Kings, The Great Deliverer, The Alpha and Omega, Yahweh, The Way The Truth & The Life, Advocate, Prince of Peace..... I could go on and on!
It bother me that some random person is going to pick up one of these tracts and read that statement "God cannot allow sinners into Heaven" and read no further because of how condemning that will make them feel.
Shouldn't it read "God loves you enough that He gave His best just for you, and even though you have junk in your life He is SOOOO BIG that He will accept you just the way you are junk and all!" instead?
Am I wrong to be upset by this tract? Am I the only one who is strong in their faith and as a Christian kind of finds wording like this offensive?
Please any and all rebuttals welcome!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Feeding your Flesh.....
The first thing I want to say today is that Phil Nelson can REALLY bring it! Whether it is delivering powerful in your face worship, or a powerful in your face convicting sermon, this guy really brings it!
I said before and I will say it again! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way our leaders at Elevation are challenging us. Get ready church because I along with the help of a few others am putting together a video to help promote the Elevation Youth Group and we intend on challenging you even more with that as well!
Quote of the month for me so far comes from Phil's message today. "Christians are not sinful because they are living in the world, Christians are sinful because the world is living in them". How astonishingly true is that?
Phil also asked what are you feeding yourself? He used the analogy of a lion vs. lion fight!
If you feed one lion the best meats, and keep it healthy, and you starve the other lion, which one is going to win the fight?
What are you feeding your flesh? Are you feeding it spiritual things or are you feeding it desires of your flesh?
Read Colossians 3 and ask yourself if you have put to death things of this Earth! It was kind of neat to hear his sermon today, because some of what he addressed is in the same direction that I am feeling led to take with this video we are making for the Youth Group!
He also read.....
James 4:4
English Standard Version (ESV)
4(A) You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Who wants to be an enemy of God? Not me I will tell you that! I have friends that are worldly and I still want to be friends with them, but at what cost or for what purpose? Do I do it for the attachment of the world still, or do I do it because I love my friends and I want to see them gain the same love that I have in Jesus? Ask yourself that question! Test yourself!
The passage from 1st John today basically says "Do not desire things of the world because they are not of God! If you do you do not love God! Because God is not of this world!"
I love God. The more time I spend soaking in his word the deeper and deeper I fall. The more I spend time at home worshipping Him through praise either by listening to music or playing it on the guitar the more and more I want to draw closer to Him. I want to live a life that revolves around the very essence of who God is "LOVE", that displays what Jesus is and was all about "SERVING", and is totally filled and consumed with what the Holy Spirit is about "A Burning Desire to draw nearer to the Father, while being led in my heart from the very presence that is God". I want MORE, MORE, MORE but make no mistake about it, it's not more earthly stuff I am seeking, but MORE OF JESUS! MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MORE OF THE ALL ENCOMPASSING POWER THAT IS OUR FATHER GOD!
Take the time and spend it getting to know your Father, His Son (Jesus), and allow the Holy Spirit to enter your heart and change your life forever!
I said before and I will say it again! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way our leaders at Elevation are challenging us. Get ready church because I along with the help of a few others am putting together a video to help promote the Elevation Youth Group and we intend on challenging you even more with that as well!
Quote of the month for me so far comes from Phil's message today. "Christians are not sinful because they are living in the world, Christians are sinful because the world is living in them". How astonishingly true is that?
Phil also asked what are you feeding yourself? He used the analogy of a lion vs. lion fight!
If you feed one lion the best meats, and keep it healthy, and you starve the other lion, which one is going to win the fight?
What are you feeding your flesh? Are you feeding it spiritual things or are you feeding it desires of your flesh?
Read Colossians 3 and ask yourself if you have put to death things of this Earth! It was kind of neat to hear his sermon today, because some of what he addressed is in the same direction that I am feeling led to take with this video we are making for the Youth Group!
He also read.....
James 4:4
English Standard Version (ESV)
4(A) You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Who wants to be an enemy of God? Not me I will tell you that! I have friends that are worldly and I still want to be friends with them, but at what cost or for what purpose? Do I do it for the attachment of the world still, or do I do it because I love my friends and I want to see them gain the same love that I have in Jesus? Ask yourself that question! Test yourself!
The passage from 1st John today basically says "Do not desire things of the world because they are not of God! If you do you do not love God! Because God is not of this world!"
I love God. The more time I spend soaking in his word the deeper and deeper I fall. The more I spend time at home worshipping Him through praise either by listening to music or playing it on the guitar the more and more I want to draw closer to Him. I want to live a life that revolves around the very essence of who God is "LOVE", that displays what Jesus is and was all about "SERVING", and is totally filled and consumed with what the Holy Spirit is about "A Burning Desire to draw nearer to the Father, while being led in my heart from the very presence that is God". I want MORE, MORE, MORE but make no mistake about it, it's not more earthly stuff I am seeking, but MORE OF JESUS! MORE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MORE OF THE ALL ENCOMPASSING POWER THAT IS OUR FATHER GOD!
Take the time and spend it getting to know your Father, His Son (Jesus), and allow the Holy Spirit to enter your heart and change your life forever!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Man Up!
In honor of Father's Day Craig spoke today on what it means to "Man Up".
What a great message for today! Although Chuck Tabor did a phenomenal job last week in Craig's absence I really missed his teaching!
So back to the "Sticky Relationship" series and more of the same, talking about things to make our current relationships stick!
Wow! I love the way Craig and the leaders 0f Elevation leave me challenged each and every single week. So far out of the people who I have heard teach, Craig, Phil, and Chuck. I have left feeling challenged by them, but also am feeling challenged by all the wonderful areas that me and my family have opportunities to serve in. So far we are doing Elevation Station, Youth Group, greeting, cleaning a Saturday or two a month, and anything and everything else we can do to just make a difference for Jesus, and to help elevate His name. I want to challenge you too. If you have not committed to serving in some way shape or form yet then get to it! What are you waiting for? We aren't going to beg you! But, as Craig so delicately put it a couple of weeks ago, WE ARE MADE TO SERVE! Cleaning toilets may not sound like a glorious job for the Kingdom of God, but if you are good at it and there is a need for it that you can meet, well then you can help!
Some great "Man Up" references today by Craig, especially of the Miller Lite commercials, which I have to point out this is my favorite, and it makes me think of Phil Nelson every time I see it! (Just Kidding Phil)
The "Meat" of the message was so good today! Telling us to "Walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk". That if we are "Loving" one another the way God has commanded us to we would be living in His light!
I am going to make this one a short one today and hopefully leave you challenged as well with what I am writing. In closing Craig read out of this passage:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
I am not sure where I heard this next statement at, but I remember hearing a message on this a couple of year ago and the speaker said that while reading this verse can you plug "your name" into where it says "Love"? For Example: Scott is patient (yeah right!), Scott is kind, Scott does not envy or boast. So on and so forth! I really challenge you to put your name into these statements and see if you can make it halfway through this list!
How many times do you challenge God on something He is directing you to do that you don't want to do? I have done it many times, and thankfully I have eventually smartened up and did what I was supposed to do all along!
You can ask most anyone who knows me personally that being patient isn't one of my strong suits! Although I have been working on it, sometimes it gets the better of me! The one thing I resolve to do out of the message I heard today is to make sure that I exercise more patience with my children, and my wife while also making sure that I am being loving and kind in the words that I choose to use towards them! I hope that this blog and more importantly Craig and the other Elevation leader's messages are challenging you in similar ways and if they are I would love to hear about them!
God Bless!
What a great message for today! Although Chuck Tabor did a phenomenal job last week in Craig's absence I really missed his teaching!
So back to the "Sticky Relationship" series and more of the same, talking about things to make our current relationships stick!
Wow! I love the way Craig and the leaders 0f Elevation leave me challenged each and every single week. So far out of the people who I have heard teach, Craig, Phil, and Chuck. I have left feeling challenged by them, but also am feeling challenged by all the wonderful areas that me and my family have opportunities to serve in. So far we are doing Elevation Station, Youth Group, greeting, cleaning a Saturday or two a month, and anything and everything else we can do to just make a difference for Jesus, and to help elevate His name. I want to challenge you too. If you have not committed to serving in some way shape or form yet then get to it! What are you waiting for? We aren't going to beg you! But, as Craig so delicately put it a couple of weeks ago, WE ARE MADE TO SERVE! Cleaning toilets may not sound like a glorious job for the Kingdom of God, but if you are good at it and there is a need for it that you can meet, well then you can help!
Some great "Man Up" references today by Craig, especially of the Miller Lite commercials, which I have to point out this is my favorite, and it makes me think of Phil Nelson every time I see it! (Just Kidding Phil)
The "Meat" of the message was so good today! Telling us to "Walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk". That if we are "Loving" one another the way God has commanded us to we would be living in His light!
I am going to make this one a short one today and hopefully leave you challenged as well with what I am writing. In closing Craig read out of this passage:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
I am not sure where I heard this next statement at, but I remember hearing a message on this a couple of year ago and the speaker said that while reading this verse can you plug "your name" into where it says "Love"? For Example: Scott is patient (yeah right!), Scott is kind, Scott does not envy or boast. So on and so forth! I really challenge you to put your name into these statements and see if you can make it halfway through this list!
How many times do you challenge God on something He is directing you to do that you don't want to do? I have done it many times, and thankfully I have eventually smartened up and did what I was supposed to do all along!
You can ask most anyone who knows me personally that being patient isn't one of my strong suits! Although I have been working on it, sometimes it gets the better of me! The one thing I resolve to do out of the message I heard today is to make sure that I exercise more patience with my children, and my wife while also making sure that I am being loving and kind in the words that I choose to use towards them! I hope that this blog and more importantly Craig and the other Elevation leader's messages are challenging you in similar ways and if they are I would love to hear about them!
God Bless!
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